They simply will not cut the man some slack this season. Just when the SAMCRO president addresses — and solves — one problem, another one (or two, or three) blows up in his face.

To wit: In the latest episode, all of Jax's wild, obstacle course-like maneuvering appeared to finally reach an end point as SAMCRO snuffed out the Chinese threat and was on the brink of handing over the NorCal gun operations to August Marks. Clay is dead. Galen is no more. And Teller's long-anticipated dream to free the MC from the nasty business of firearms was, at last, becoming a reality.

But as is so often the case, thorny trouble was surfacing on other fronts. All of a sudden, Nero's crew is pressuring him to expand the enterprise and go into business with a Mayan gang from Oakland that is determined to wrest the gun operation from Marks. (A major war on the horizon?) They don't approve of Nero being so wedded at the hip with Jax and rather prefer the idea of “brown helping brown.”

This development makes for interesting timing given that, later in the episode, a mournful Juice — having nearly overdosed on Oxy — makes a stunning confession to Nero: Under Jax's orders, he smothered Darvany to death in the cabin. Wow. We've been wondering all season when, or if (and how), Nero would learn of this heinous move. Now, in the next-to-last episode, it has finally happened and it's bound to have a corrosive impact on Nero's relationship with Jax and perhaps even Gemma.

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And if all that wasn't enough turbulence to deal with, here's the capper: Tara has finally made good on her plan to split with the kids. But instead of taking the immunity deal with DA Tyne Patterson that would have destroyed SAMCRO, she has taken the very risky route by hitting the road and holing up in a motel with Abel and Thomas. This, after pulling a fast one on Gemma and nabbing the kids at gunpoint from Unser and Wendy.

When Jax rushes home to find that Tara has cleared out the closet and drawers and taken the boys, he of course, explodes into a seething, frothing, furntiure-tossing fit. Now, what the hell else can go wrong?

Some random observations:

– Those sadistic writers we mentioned have done a great job of keeping us off balance the last couple of weeks, beginning with the slayings of Clay and Galen and proceeding with the surprise ambush of the Chinese posse. (Conner: “Some real cowboy s— going on here.”). They even kept us guessing right up til the end as to whether Tara would meet with the DA or not.

– Speaking of the DA, what a season of utter futility for Patterson. Every time she thinks she has a deal in the works, every time she is ready to make someone pay for that school shooting, something goes awry. It has gotten a little ridiculous, really. If “SOA” was a Warner Bros. cartoon, she would be the Coyote.

– At least things are looking good for Tig. With Jax coming through on the gun front, August no longer has Tig in his cross hairs. Looks like we'll be enjoying Tig's weird antics for at least a while longer. Just don't mess with the hair.

– Nice line from Chibs after Jax hooked the Irish up with Marks: “Jackie boy, you just advanced race relations in Ireland 50 years.”

– Loved the deft touch director Paris Barclay brought to the final sequence where Nero awkwardly comforts Jax after learning Tara has taken off with the kids. Here's a guy who has just learned of a shocking betrayal by Jax, but knows that this is not the time to address it. A nicely done scene.

– On the other hand, we could have done without all the references to Bobby's apparently prodigious man part.